Base-ball-game apparatus.



M. M. JOHNSON. BASE BALL GAME APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22. 1911.

1,033,249. Patented July 23, 1912.

5. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

9O 'O O O O O.CD OVO O O 0 000000 00000 000000000001 2- @6' O fll 20 E 79 I gm ue wbo'a w "26' 29' .2. A ma; WW

Mme/cow &Q.Qt

W I bkgvh M. M. JOHNSON. BASE BALL GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22, 1911 1,033,249. Patented July 23, 1912. 4

2 95 32 SHEETSSHBET 2 IEWIIIIIIIIIIEEI v I UNITED STATES PATEN @FETQE.

MARTIN M. JOHNSON, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALFRED L. VAN HORNE, F DAYTON, OHIO.

BASE-BALL-GAIME APPARATUS.

Application filed November 22, 1911.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1912. Serial No. 661 ,805.

To all m/zom it 7770]] concern:

lie it known that l, b'lAlt'ltN M. Jonxsow, a eit-isaen of the lnited States. residing at lI-ayton. in the eounty ot' l\'lontgomery and State ot ()hio, hare invented eertain new ad useful ln'iprovements in Base-Ball- (lame Apparatus, ot' whieh the following is a speeifieation.

The present invention relates to games and has parlieular reterenee to a meehanieal baseball game ap 'laratus.

An important object ot'the invention is to provide a meehanieal ontrivanee ot the above mentioned eharaeter, \vhieh may be operated for playing the game of baseball in an exeiting, t'aseinating, and realistio manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide a baseball game apparatus whit-h may be preferably played in aeeordanee with the forms and rules employed in thepro t essional baseball games.

A further objeet of the invention is to provide a device of the above mentioned eharaeter, whieh is simple in construetion, eheap to umnut'aeture, and eapable of being played with ditl'erentdegrees of sueeess depending upon the shill of the operator.

()ther objeets and ad antages of this invention will be apparent during the eourse ot the t'ollmving deseription.

In the arwmpauying drawings 't orming a part of this speeit'i ation and in whieh like nlunerals are employed to designate llbt parts throughout the same. Figure l is a plan view of the game apparatus as a whole, Fig. #2 is a verlieal seetional view taken on the line ot' Fig. t, big. 23 is an enlarged l'ragmentary vertieal seetional view taken on line li it of Fig. 'l,l ig. 4 is a bottom plan view ot Fig. 3. 'parts being omitted, Fig. 5 is a side elevation'ot a ditlerent torm ot' batting element or disk, Fig. (3 is a rear side elevation of a stopping element for the ateher. Fig. 7 is a plan view-o't the same, Fig. 8 is a plan view of a stopping element l't any other player, Fig. 5) is a trout elevation of the same. Fig. 10 is a. plan view of a determiningelement or ring, Fig. It is aeentral vertieal seet ion through the same, Fig. I! is a side elevation of a player mem her, and, Fig. l5) is a similar view of a bar magi'iet, preferably employed in removing the ball from the pocket.

In the accompanying drawings in which the home plate or base is illustrated a preferred en'ibodilnent of my invention, the nmneral l designates aboard eonz t'it-uting the field. This board is preferably surrounded by an upstanding flange or tenee 2, attaehed thereto by suitable means. The upper surface of the board 1 is provided with spaeed catching or holding means. preferably in the form of openings or poekets disposed as shown. Formed upon the board 1 is a diamond 4, provided at. its eorners with home base 5, first base 6, seeond base 7. and third base 8. These bases are provided with the poeltets or openings 5, as shown. preteyably formed a little larger than the other-openings I). The numeral 9 designates the eatehers box. The numeral ll) designates the pit hers box, having the pit'eher's-slab 1'1, as is customary. A path or trael; 12 eonneets the pit'ehers box'lO and lt is to be understood that the upper surface ot' the board 1 is in the form of a flat: plane and that the diamond t and the bases laid out thereon will not. in any way intertere with this fiat su'rtaee. The diamond and the bases may be printed, painted. or otherwise indicated on the board 1 by any suitable means. The numeral 1 designates a lett 'toul line and the numeral 1-1 designates a right foul line. l orwardly ot the diamond -l are spaced field lines 15. it. and '17, rn-e'terably shaped and arranged as shown.

The game is more :ulvantageonsly played by two persons eaeh ot' whom has a set. of men, nine in number. as is eustomary in the ordinary game ot baseball. llaeh of th se men maypreferably be eollar-lnit-ton shape, as shown in Fig. 12, wherein the numeral 18 designates the same. l do not. wish to restriet myselt'. however, to anypartieular shape or design of the men, as the same may be widely varied without materiallv al'l'eeting the playing ot the game.

, same, except the pitcher.

screw 21 is a batting element or disk 2:2, preferably frustoconieal in vertical cross section. I have found that the bestv results are obtained by having the side wall of the disk 22 inclined at an angle of about if) to 60 degrees. Instead of employing the disk 22 I may remove the same and connect a second disk 23 with the stem 19. The dish 23 has its outer surface curved, as shown. It is to be understood that. the disk 23 is detachably connected with the stem in a like manner, as shown in connection with the disk 22. Formed upon the lower end of the stem 19 head 24, provided with a transverse opening 25 formed therethrough for receiv in g an elastic band 26 or the like, the ends of which engage in grooves formed upon the lower ends of depending phgs 27, that are fixed to the board 1, as shown. It is thus seen that the operator may quickly force the stem upwardly so that disk 22 will strike a ball -28 and when the stem is released the rubher band 26 will return said stem to its lowermost position, to bring disk 22 into engagement with the upper surface of the board 'I.

The numerals 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 desig nate stopping elements in the form, preferably, of curved strips or plates, as shown. These stopping elements or plates are to be employed in connection with the infield players, each of which is provided with the The catcher stopping element 29 is provided with a depend ing lug 34, to he inserted in one of the openings 3. Each of these stopping elements may preferably have its inner face provided with a covering of felt or like material. Attention is called to the fact that theelement 29 is the only one of the stopping elements employed in the infield which carries depending lug 34 or other securing means. The numerals 36, 37 and 38 desig- Hate stopping elements, preferably in the form of curved strips or plates, which are larger than the infield stopping elements and adapted to be used in connection with the fielders. l lach of these stopping elements 36, 37 and 38 is preferably provided upon its inner face with a covering of felt 39 or like material.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I have shown what may be termed a determining clement, preferably in the form of a ring 40. There are preferably two of these rings, which are of different diameters, the smaller to be used in coimection. with the infielder-s and the larger with the out-fielders, as will be further explained.

The playing ball 28 is preferably formed of steel and in order that it may be quickly and easily removed from any of the pockets or openings 3, I provide abar magnet ll, shown in Fig. 13.

In playing the game, the apparatus is op erated as follow: Assuming that the red men have the first inning at the bat, the blue men 18 will be placed at the bases and in the field in the ordinary positions, as shown. The player may shift his men as he deems best, by taking them out of certain openings 3 and placing them in other openings. In the infield the stopping elements 30, 31, 32 and 33 are placed in front of the first baseman, second baseman, short stop and third baseman, with their concave faces turned toward the home plate 5, as shown. These st(i )ping elements preferably engage the upper ends of the men. The stopping element 29 is placed behind the home plate and surrounds the disk 22, as shown, the lug 34 of said stopping element fitting in one of the openings 3. The stopping elements 36, 37 and 3S areplaced in front of the fielders, in a corresponding manner. The board is placed on a table or other support so that the corners of the same project therebeyond, whereby the player may engage the head 24 of the stem lffwith his finger tip. The two persons playing the opposing teams sit opposite each other. The player of the outfield team. now takes the ball 23 and rolls it toward the batting element 22. The rules may provide that. the ball shall start to roll on or before passing the slab ll. By practiee, the operator may .roll the ball so it will curve and hence confuse the operator playing the batting element 22. As the ball approaches the batting element 22 the opposing operator quickly moves the stem 15) upwardly, to strike the ball with the element If he fails to hit the ball after having three strikes, there will be one out for that side. If he strikes the ball and it rolls outwardly of either of the lines -13 and 14, it will be a foul or strike, in accordance with the well known baseball rules. If he hits the ball fair it may strike one of the holdin; elements in the infield or outfield or it may pass between them. If it passes these stopping elements and is caught in one of the pockets 3 inwardly of the line 15, the man 18 makes a one base hit and is entitled to go to first base, if the ball is caught between lines 15 and 16, it is a two base hit, if caught between lines If) and 17, there is a three bagger, and if caught outwardly of line l7 or if the ball goes over the fence 2, there is a home run. Assuming that the hall has been struckand engaged by the stopping element. 30 at first base and rebounds from the same and is then caught in one of the openings 3 hear such first base, to ascertain whether the man is out or not, the infield determining element 40 is placed about the first baseman 18, with said first baseman extending through the central opening there of. If the opening within which the ball has been caught is in the, radius of the element 40 or is covered thereby, the ball will be considered as having been caught by the first baseman and hence the man at the bat will be out. Assuming thatthe ball has been again hit and goes to the left fielder, strikes against the holdingelement 38 thereof, and rebounds and is finally caught in one of the openings 3 inwardly of the line 15. The out fielddetermining element 40 is now applied to this left fielder, above described, to ascertain if he has caught the ball. Assuming that the pocket holding the ball does not fall within the radius of the determining element, this will count as an error for the outfield team, and the ball being held inwardly of the line 15, the'opposing team is entitled to a one base hit and the man will accordingly go to first base. Had this ball rebounded from the holding element and finally been caught by one of the pockets between lines 15 and 16, there would have been a two base hit, and if caught between lines 16 and 17, a three base hit, and so on. If the ball should be again batted fair and strike the holding element 31 of the second baseman and rebound from the same, into the holding element 32 of the short stop, and be caught by one of the pockets adjacent the holding element 32 so that said'short stop would have been considered to have caught the ball as ascertained by the employment of the determining element 40, this would be an assist and would count as an out against the team at the bat. A man may steal from one base to another by the operator throwing such man 18 from the first base to the second, and if the man 18 is r ught at the second base in the radius of the determining device 40, he is considered safe, and otherwise out. The successful operation of this practice requires considerable skill. After there have been three outs the red men take their proper positions in the field and at the bases and the board is turned around so that the other person may operate the batting element. The operation of the apparatus is then repeated.

I wish it understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that certain changes in the shape, size, and arrangement ofpa'nts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In a ame apparatus, a board havin a diamond ormed thereon, a stem movafily mounted through the board, and a tapering disk attached to the stem.

- 2. In a game-apparatus. a board, a taper- 5. In a game apparatus, a board, having a diamond formed thereon and PIOVldQd.

with aplurality of spaced pockets, a plurality of men to be disposed in positions on the board by being inserted in certain of the pockets, batting means, a ball, and a determining element to be placed adjacent" the man to ascertain whether the pocket holding the caught ball is in the radius of said determining element, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. In a game apparatus, a board provided with a plurality of pockets, a player element for insertion in one of the pockets, and a ring to be placed about said player element,

substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. In a game apparatus, a with a plurality of holding means, and a determining element of a'desired area to be placed adjacent a selected 'one of the holding means to ascertain what other holding meansare at a certain distance from the selected holding means.

8., In a game apparatus, a board provided with a plurality of spaced pockets, a ball to travel on the board, a player element for insertion in one of said pockets, and a determining ringto be placed about the player element.

9. In a game apparatus, a board having a diamond .formed thereon and provided with a plurality of pockets and having foul lines and field lines, batting means disposed at the home plate, a plurality of player elements for insertion in the openings near the bases and in the field, a plurality of stopping elements removably mounted near each player element, and a determining element in the form of a ringand adapted to be placed about a selected player element. In testimony whereof I afi'ix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

A MARTIN M. JOHNSON. Witnesses:

WILLIAM S. ConLEN'rz, EDWARD E. WELLS.

board provided 

